Determinants of Transactional Sexual Intercourse Among Adolescents in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Introduction: Reducing poverty and all forms of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls and other vulnerable groups in developing societies like Nigeria requires pragmatic efforts. However, available information in the literature on the motivational factors of transactional sexual intercourse (TSI) among adolescents in Nigeria appears to be sparse. Moreover, with about 12 years left to attain the global goals (also known as the agenda 2030), many of the in-school and out-of-school adolescents engage in risky TSI. Consequently, this study examined the motivational determinants of TSI among in-school and out-of-school adolescents in Nigeria with a particular focus on Ekiti State. Method: This study adopted a cross-sectional research design of the survey type involving quantitative methods of data collection and usage of multistage sampling technique for the selection of a total of 600 in-school (n = 400) and out-of-school adolescents (n = 200) from the three senatorial districts of Ekiti State, Nigeria, between January and March 2018. Data collated were analyzed using univariate, bivariate, and hierarchical multivariate logistic regression to identify the motivational determinants of transactional sexual behavior among adolescents in Nigeria. Results: This study found that in-school adolescents were more motivated by affection and socioeconomic reasons. Out-of-school adolescents were significantly influenced by self-ego and peer pressure. However, TSI does not differ by the socioeconomic environment for the two adolescent groups. Conclusion and Policy Implication: This study reveals that regrouping adolescents and studying their varied demographic characteristics is essential for designing sexual education aimed at reducing the adverse outcomes of TSI (e.g., adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections) among adolescents in Ekiti State and Nigeria at large.